A Taste Of The Pros

VARSITY

Edgewater star Set Carpintero gets to train with a professional soccer team in Belgium

January 17, 2006|By Shannon J. Owens, Sentinel Staff Writer

Shorts, 28-degree weather and a soccer ball meant one thing for Edgewater High School soccer player Set Carpintero: a bit of the good life.

Carpintero, a senior, took an exclusive peek into the life of a professional soccer player when he trained overseas with the Westerlo soccer club of Belgium from Dec. 5-19. The trip was arranged through his Orlando club team, Ajax America, which is associated with the professional Ajax Amsterdam futbol club.

While his Edgewater teammates practiced under Florida's sun in balmy December weather, Carpintero avoided patches of sleet on the soccer field in Belgium. He trained for two weeks alongside 26-year-old professional players for a few hours daily. He also played in two matches.

The opportunity gave Carpintero firsthand experience into the challenges of playing against European talent.

Jumping from high school to the pros has been common in sports such as basketball and baseball, but it's not often that an American soccer player would make such a leap. It's unlikely that Carpintero will join the Westerlo team, which competes in Belgium's first division, any time soon, or even one of its lower affiliates. But just the opportunity to impress its coaches may have seemed impossible for him a few years ago.

Five years ago, Carpintero was a 13-year-old kid headed down the wrong path. His parents' separation coupled with a tough transition from home schooling to public school led to behavioral problems -- which he frequently displayed at Lockhart Middle School.

"I started going crazy," said Carpintero about his behavior. "I just didn't care."

That didn't last long after he was sent to a school for behaviorally challenged students in seventh grade. Unruliness was not tolerated, and male students were required to dress in a shirt and tie everyday.

Carpintero glanced at his peers and knew he needed to alter his path. When he returned to Lockhart for eighth grade, he raised his grade-point average from a 2.0 to 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and has remained an A-B average student since then.

"I matured a lot," Carpintero said. "I don't make those stupid decisions trying to pick fights and being a class clown. I figured out there's tons of ways to get attention [other] than to do things like that."

Soccer is a way of life for the Carpintero children. All four boys, Eder, 13; Natan, 16; Set, 18; and Sem, 22, play or have played the sport. Set's mother, Gricelda, plays for an indoors recreational team in Longwood. She's an active 42-year-old who runs 6 miles a day and keeps a slim 107-pound figure on a 5-foot-2 frame.

"In the Spanish culture, we all have [soccer]," said Gricelda, who is Mexican. Set's father, Victor, is Honduran.

Carpintero didn't get serious about the sport until high school. Club coaches started to take notice of his quick footwork and explosive speed. He traveled state-to-state and out of the country to compete in tournaments with the under-17 Olympic Development Program. Carpintero, who is a 5-foot-8 left wing, built a stock of highlights. One of his finest came when he kicked the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Argentina's top club program, River Plate.

He's scored 59 career goals for Edgewater.

"He has enough speed and stamina to be a force in the game," said Bobby Croft, coach of rival Winter Park.

Westerlo expressed interest in Carpintero as a reserve or youth player for the club. If signed to a pro contract, a non-European youth player from ages 16-19 can earn anywhere from paid room and board expenses to $250,000 a year depending on how interested the team is, according to Croft, who also coaches for Ajax America.

If Carpintero receives a call, he'll go. Right now, his club and high-school coaches say his best move is to go to college for a few years to improve his skills. Maryland, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, North Carolina, UCF and the University of San Francisco have expressed interest.

Professional soccer could be a few years out, but Carpintero's overseas experience gave him a head start.

"I don't think I'm nowhere as good as I thought I was before I left [for Belgium]," Carpintero said. "I saw how much work I have to do."